November 10-Woodbine Analysis

by Al Cimaglia

November 10, 2017

Tonight, the feature at Woodbine rolls in Race 3, a condition trot with a $20,000 purse. The 0.20 Pick 5 with a $50,000 guaranteed pool kicks-off the card. The Early 0.20 Pick 4 sequence with a $50,000 guaranteed pool starts in Race 4 and will be my focus.

Last night drivers James MacDonald, Trevor Henry and Phillip Hudon led all teamsters with three trips to the winner's circle.
Amongst trainers, Patrick Shepherd led the pack with two winners.

Comments and selections below are based on a fast track.

Race 42-Bad Night Mare-Johnson claimed about 1 month ago, drops and could be sitting on a big try at 8-1 ML. 3-Lights Go Out-Gets an inside starting spot and can roll well late. Saftic needs to provide a good steer. 4-Exhilarated-Winner of >$148k may be a bit weary but this is a good level to take a picture.8-Shezarealdeal-Steps up after a 54.4 last half victory. Sharp and Henry sticks, could pass all with a hot pace.

Race 52-Southwind Ion-Comes off a nice win, hard to leave ML chalk out but not a lock and should be a short price.4-Sodwana Bay-Raced well off the bench after a 3-month rest. Was facing tougher and should be tighter tonight.8-Jimmys Little Girl-McNair sticks, although 1-28 in'17 he gets this mare to close and could surprise at a nice price.

Race 63-So Not Cool-In from FlmD after a romp and now McNair steers. Might be ready for a big track score.5-Muscle High-In fine form and was used very hard in opening 1/4 from 8 hole in last, best to respect.6-Moonstar Mission-Last from 9 hole was best in a while, past horses in the lane and now gets post relief.

Race 71-Pretty Hot-Takes a significant drop and McNair takes the lines, seems like a spot to shine.8-Dangerousprecedent-Third start for Auciello and fourth start on lasix, maybe with the right trip at a square price.

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11.9.2017

Let's starts with the premise of growing the fan base helps to increase the harness racing handle. Then logically one weekend of big stakes racing should make inroads to attract new fans. It takes more than a 2-day event, but without a doubt Breeders Crown weekend needs to make a big impression.
One thing that jumped out as a point of concern is the guarantees on horizontal bets like the Pick 4 at Hoosier Park were not sufficiently increased. A Pick 4 with only a $40,000 guaranteed pool isn't a wow. Especially, when on the same night a major track (Woodbine) is offering $50,000 guarantees for both the Pick 4 and Pick 5. Somehow there needs to be a bigger splash for those bets on Breeders Crown weekend.
In my view it would be better to have only one Pick 4 and increase the guarantee to $100,000. A Pick 5 should have at least a $75,000 guaranteed pool. Maybe the bet size could be set at 0.20 instead of 0.50 for at least one of those bets. Another idea to draw attention to the event as a whole, so more interest is created, would be to tie the days together. Maybe a 2-year-old race and a 3-year old race, one from each day could be used as a Friday-Saturday Breeders Crown double.
There needs to be more national focus put on the entire weekend. Hoosier had on-track contests, and the winner could then place a large bet on a race. That was a great idea but the scope was narrow. What if there was a national contest, whereby folks betting and watching the simulcast at tracks around the country could participate? Why not try to get off-track betting parlors involved as well?
If Breeders Crown weekend is the showcase event of harness racing, then everything should be on the table. Different promotions shouldn't be shunned but rather attempted. It's not like the same old, same old has produced sparkling results.
Finally, we come around to the biggest issue.
Who's in charge?
Is it the host track, a certain jurisdiction or is it the USTA? Who sets the marketing plan for Breeders Crown weekend? Is there a specific national marketing plan for the premier event of the harness racing season?
There are so many questions.
Why wouldn't everyone with access to the USTA website be able to download for free the entire program for each night?
Why wouldn't more corporate sponsorships be involved to bolster marketing? Why couldn't corporate sponsorship money be used for large contest prizes? Why isn't a tiny share from each purse account at every track in North America accumulated throughout the year for marketing purposes, including the Breeders Crown?
This sounds monotonous, with questions without real answers and that happens when no one knows who's in charge. But better to focus on the issues than to accept the same old. Because the only thing we know for sure, is same old hasn't worked very well.
You can follow me on Twitter @AlCimaglia

3.15.2018

There have been some positives in 2018 for harness racing. Cal Expo and Pompano Park have set records in horizontal bets. The Pick 4 at Cal Expo on Saturday night now has a $50,000 guaranteed pool and surpasses it. Pompano Park has taken over Sunday's and Tuesday's as the place to play the Pick 4 and Pick 5. Unfortunately, despite some great news there are some stubborn warts that need attention. Woodbine/Mohawk is the top harness racing program in North America. The Meadowlands still attracts fine horses in the summer and has top stakes, but over the entire year the best harness racing is north of the border. For some time now, it has been apparent to me the judges on the WEG circuit are reluctant to flash the inquiry sign. This became painfully evident on December 23rd when a 16-1 shot winner interfered with at least two if not three others in the stretch to rally and keyed a $49,437 Hi-5 payout on a 0.20 wager. Take a look. What was most disturbing is the judges at Woodbine were asleep at the switch in a race with over $1,000,000 in the Jackpot Hi-5 pool up for grabs. If there ever was a time for increased focus by those upholding the integrity of racing it was then, on a night when all eyes were on the mandatory Jackpot Hi-5 payout. It still shakes me how this result stood. Since then the diligence of the judges at Woodbine does not appear to be any better. So, when it was reported there have been recent meetings at Woodbine and at others tracks in Canada whereby the judges laid down the law, I could only shake my head. Meetings like this happen from time to time but what goes unnoticed is responsibility is improperly placed. It's the job of a judge to ensure the integrity of each race is above question and a standard is set for the betting public. It is not the driver's responsibility to self-police, but that seems to be a common thread lately in harness racing when more awareness comes about. It was that way with the misguided first attempt at the WEG/Gural-Standardbred Racing Integrity and Accountability Initiative, which was wisely reeled back. Self-policing doesn't work in society. It shouldn't be expected that owners, drivers and trainers will keep each other in-line. What needs to take place is for the judges who are getting paid to do a job, to simply to do their job in every race. It's okay to remind driver's to not excessively whip, to not kick, to close holes, to not open-up the rail to allow someone to pass, to not pull only to block the outer flow, and to not talk on the track. But make no mistake the obligation to ensure those standards rests solely on the judges. For now, the first change needed is for the judges to realize the same. Those rules have been in place, they are not new, but they mean little unless they are enforced. The initial focus shouldn't be on optics, but rather to ensure the betting public is getting a fair chance in every race. It may not look the best when drivers talk on the track. But does anyone really think they are discussing a script that's going to take place a few minutes later? Certainly not, but because popularity has diminished over the years there's probably not been enough criticism of judges and so they become lax. When that happens, drivers are human and will push the envelope and do pretty much what they can get away with, as the vast majority of time they are trying to win. Race track management needs to be respectful of the concerns of the handful of people in the grandstand. But everyone involved in putting on the show should remember there are many more watching from afar. The optics will improve, and the fan base will grow when those responsible for upholding the integrity of harness racing remember to do their jobs. Check me out on Twitter, @AlCimaglia.